UCOR successfully removed the lower reactor vessel from the Oak Ridge Research Reactor (Building 3042) at the Oak Ridge national Lab. Workers lowered a 72-inch diamond wire saw to cut the final pieces that held the lower reactor vessel in place at the bottom of the reactor pool. They used a 20-ton overhead crane to lift that equipment and load it into a 32,000-pound protective cask to ship it for disposal offsite.
Workers removed the top section of the reactor vessel last fall. After that, crews focused on filtering and draining the reactor pool water to reach irradiated materials and prepare for the lower reactor vessel removal.
